Small Presentation
19 Oct 2010 - 13 Mar 2011
Adolf Wölfli
Eröffnung des Krieges in Ennsee. Nordamerika, 1911
Bleistift und Farbstift auf Zeitungspapier
49,9 x 38,0 cm
Adolf Wölfli-Stiftung, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern
Eröffnung des Krieges in Ennsee. Nordamerika, 1911
Bleistift und Farbstift auf Zeitungspapier
49,9 x 38,0 cm
Adolf Wölfli-Stiftung, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern
SMALL PRESENTATION
Works from the Adolf Wölfli-Foundation
19 October 2010 - 13 March 2011
At first glance Wöfli's drawings and pages of text with their decorative lettering and artistic interweaving of word and image seem reminiscent of medieval writings. Superficially Wölfli’s work would seem to be part of the Christian tradition in art, an idea that on closer inspection however is in need of qualification.
Looking at Adolf Wölfli’s drawings, you realise both how crowded and dense they are. At first glance his drawings and pages of text with their decorative lettering and artistic interweaving of word and image seem reminiscent of medieval writings. As early as the 1970s Wölfli’s works were already being linked to medieval art, however there is no evidence that the artist was aware of this precedent. What remains certain is that Wölfli used a great variety of sources, extensively exploiting magazines, books, and the Bible together with atlases, which the Waldau Mental Asylum put at his disposal.
Superficially Wölfli’s work would seem to be part of the Christian tradition in art, an idea that on closer inspection however is in need of qualification. Wölfli’s use of the Christian pictorial tradition displays an ambiguous relationship to both the Church and religion. For him these were above all a reservoir of powerful symbols and the spiritual, in a world and era in which belief was forfeiting much of its authority.
Curator: Daniel Baumann
Works from the Adolf Wölfli-Foundation
19 October 2010 - 13 March 2011
At first glance Wöfli's drawings and pages of text with their decorative lettering and artistic interweaving of word and image seem reminiscent of medieval writings. Superficially Wölfli’s work would seem to be part of the Christian tradition in art, an idea that on closer inspection however is in need of qualification.
Looking at Adolf Wölfli’s drawings, you realise both how crowded and dense they are. At first glance his drawings and pages of text with their decorative lettering and artistic interweaving of word and image seem reminiscent of medieval writings. As early as the 1970s Wölfli’s works were already being linked to medieval art, however there is no evidence that the artist was aware of this precedent. What remains certain is that Wölfli used a great variety of sources, extensively exploiting magazines, books, and the Bible together with atlases, which the Waldau Mental Asylum put at his disposal.
Superficially Wölfli’s work would seem to be part of the Christian tradition in art, an idea that on closer inspection however is in need of qualification. Wölfli’s use of the Christian pictorial tradition displays an ambiguous relationship to both the Church and religion. For him these were above all a reservoir of powerful symbols and the spiritual, in a world and era in which belief was forfeiting much of its authority.
Curator: Daniel Baumann